This article was published in the Lenoir News-Topic.

Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute hopes to offer two new courses of study next fall, if they’re approved by the N.C. Community College System.

Trustees voted Wednesday to approve the applications for two new programs: computer technology integration and hospitality management.

Computer technology integration would fold in four current programs: networking, Web technologies, computer information systems, and programming. Those degrees would become concentrations in the new program, said Margaret Hampson, vice president for college transfer and technical programs.Combining those degrees under the umbrella of computer technology integration would streamline the program and offer more flexibility, without the need to continually seek approval for new programs, Hampson said.

“The key is that we would be able to be more flexible within that degree and be able to change as technology changes,” she said.

The computer technology integration degree would prepare graduates for work as designers, testers, support technicians, administrators, developers or programmers, according to material distributed at the trustees’ Wednesday meeting.

Administrators hope to build in coursework in data storage, which is used in data centers, and mobile-app development, Hampson said.

A second new program, in hospitality management, would prepare students to work as supervisors or managers at hotels, restaurants and similar businesses.

The hospitality management degree would be closely tied to the college’s existing culinary program, and hospitality management courses would be offered online to keep them available to students at the Caldwell and Watauga campuses, Hampson said.

Students may be able to graduate in three years with two degrees – in culinary technology and hospitality management. The college also plans to pursue an articulation agreement with Appalachian State, giving students the chance to transfer from CCC&TI’s hospitality management program to ASU’s hospitality and tourism management program.

No new staff is necessary for either program, Hampson said. The computer technology integration degree would utilize instructors from the networking, web technologies, computer information systems and programming programs, and the hospitality management degree would utilize instructors from the culinary program.